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No. 6||,7|0. Patented Oct. 4, |898. R. SAVRY.'

SOAP PRESS.

(Application filed Dec. B, 1897,)

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet l.

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WIIEEEES VEBITUY No. 6|`|,7l0. Patented Oct. 4, |898.

R. SAVDBY. v

SDAP PRESS.

(Application led Dec. 6, 1897.) (No Model.) 4 sheets-sheet 2.

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No. 6|l,7l0. Patented Oct. 4, |898. l B. SAVORY.

SOAP PRESS.

(Application filed Dec. 6, 1897.) (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

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WIEEEE lgvlmf @1f/wam M@ Patented Oct. 4, |898. B. SAVBRY.

SUAP PRESS. v

(Application led Dec. 6, 1897.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

(no Model.)

'mi Noxms PETERS co. PHoTuLnNo.. wnziwowm UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT SAVORY, OF VARRINGTOK'ENGLAND.

ASOAP-PRESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 61 1,710, dated October 4, 1898.

Application filed December 6, 1897. Serial No. 660,827. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT SAVORY, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Warrington, in the county of Lancaster, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Stamping and Embossing Soap and other Similar Substances, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the class of machines for pressing soap and similar substances of a compressible nature; and the object is to provide a machine adapted to automatically cut the bars of soap into tablets or pieces of the proper size, feed said tablets to the dies, stamp them, and then convey them from the dies to the packing-table.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an embodiment of the invention, Figure 1 is a front elevation of the machine as seen from the right in Fig. 2, partly in section at the right side. Fig. 2 is an end elevation as seen from the left in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section in the plane indicated byline o; in Fig. 1, the parts below the section-plane being seen in plan; and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the cam-disk F detached and on a large scale. Fig. L.Lis a fragmentary plan view showing parts of the mechanism as seen from below. Fig. 5 is a detail side view, on a larger scale than the principal views, illustrating the gripper device; and Fig. G is a plan of t-he same.

Before minutely describing the machine illustrated it may be well to` say that it is only necessary to feed to it by hand the soap bars to be cut, fed, and pressed or stamped and that while it may be made otherwise the machine is here shown as double, and this is the form preferred-that is to say, the cutting, pressing, and feeding mechanisms are duplicated, the two mechanisms being mounted, respectively, at opposite sides of the machine-frame. These mechanisms are exactly alike, and they are both driven from a central driving mechanism in common, as will be hereinafter explained.

A represents the frame of the machine. B is the driving-shaft, mounted rotatively therein, and B' are tight and loose pulleys on the shaftB to receive a driving-belt. (Not shown.) The shaft B drives another. cross-shaft C2 through gear-wheels D D', and the shaft C2 drives an upright centrally-situated shaft C through the medium of bevel-gears C. On the upright shaft C is fixed a cam-disk F, which has projecting from its lower facea stud F', Fig, 4, which operates the/device for cutting off the soap bars, as will be hereinafter. described.

E is a chute or feeding-guide, into -which the bar of soap is placed by the attendant, andE' is a stop which moves across said chute. This stop is moved into the chute at the proper time, so that the bar of soap may be fed up to it to have a tablet of the proper length cut off therefrom. The stop E is fixed on a sliding bar I-I, to which motion is imparted at the v proper times by the stud F striking, as the disk F rotates, against cam-faces Gr on levers G', fulcrumed on the frame at g and coupled to the bar H. Thus by acting alternately on the levers G' a reciprocating movement is imparted to the bar I-I and the stop E thereon. The stop E' is moved into the chute E and the bar of soap fed up to it, and a moment before it is moved out of the way a gripper and conveyer I2 moves forward, seizes the bar at its fend, and when the stop is shifted moves the bar forward a distance equivalent to the length of the tablet to be cut off.` A cutter R cuts off the tablet. The gripper I2 carries the latter to the die, which presses it, and then another gripper Il, like the gripper I2, seizes the stamped or pressed tablet and conveys it to an endless carrier J', which delivers it onto the packing-table or to any point desired. These mechanisms will now be described.

The gripper-s I1 and I2 are fixed to a rod O, mounted to slide longitudinally on the frame and moved to and fro at the proper times through the medium of the cam-groove P in the face of the disk F, Fig. 3, and a series of levers and links. The two rods O have on them bracket-arms q', which are coupled, re-

a triple bell-crank lever Q', the other arm of which is coupled by a link p to an arm of a bell-crank lever p. The other arm of this latter lever has a stud P', which engages the seen in Fig. 3. The result of the construction is that the cam-groove P imparts movespectively, by links q to the opposite arms ofl cam-groove P. This construction is best IOD ments to both of the rods O, but simultaneously in opposite directions, and it is of such form that the gripper I rests for a moment while the cutter R is operating.

The grippers are alike. The gripper I1, Figs. 5 and 6, is coupled to the gripper I2 by a bar t, and it comprises two gripping-jaws K, adapted to slide toward and from each other along guide-bars K in order to grip on or release the tablet of soap. The jaws K are coupled by links L to lateral lugs on an 0perating-lever 7a, fulcrumed at 7.3 on the main plate L of the gripper. The links are connected to the jaws by pins or studs Z, which play in slots Z in the plate L. Vibration of the lever 7a operates the jaws K. The bar t' being coupled to the levers k of the grippers I1 and 12, it follows from the constructionl shown, Fig. 3, that the grippers will close and open simultaneously.

-The grippers are operated by a cam-groove M, Fig. 2, in a cam-disk m', fixed on the shaft C2 through the medium of two levers M', fulcrumed on the frame at on. The lower ends of these levers are provided with contactscrews m", which are adapted to strike an abutment N on the bar t' at the moment required for closing and opening the grippers. The screws m permit of adjustment, so that the moment of opening and closing the grippers can be nicely regulated.

It will be understood that the grippers I1 and I2 are carried to and fro with the bar O for carrying the cake of soap, and at the proper moment when moved into the receiving position the cam M acts on one of the levers M to close the jaws of the grippers, and when moved into the delivering position said cam acts on the other lever M to open the jaws of the grippers. The gripper I2 seizes the tablet or piece of soap severed from the bar, and sim ultaneously'the gripper I1 seizes the tablet or cake of soap which has just been pressed in the dies. The former is carried to the die-box J, and the latter is carried to the endless band or conveyer J', as here shown. The jaws of the grippers are now opened and the cakes or tablets of soap released, when the grippers return to their first position.

The soap-cutter R moves transversely across the chute E and consists of a wire strained across a frame mounted to play in guides. This wire is in substance the cutter and is indicated by dotted lines at R in Fig. l. Reciprocating motion is imparted to the cutter by a cam-groove in the disk F (seen in Fig. 3*) through the medium of a lever R', fulcrumed on the frame and coupled to the cutter R at its end by a link R2. The lever R has a stud R4 on it, which engages the camgroove R3, and the lever receives motion through this stud. Vhile separated the dies of each pair are cleaned by a reciprocating brush S, carried on a slide-arm S and reciprocated by a cam-groove s in a cam-piece fixed on the shaft C', the slide-arm having a stud S2, which engages said cam -groove s. To

guide the slide-arm S in its movement-s, it has a fork at its inner end, the branches T of which embrace the boss of the cam-piece, while at its outer end it plays in keeper-guides T on the frame. The slide-arms S at opposite sides of the frame of the machine overlap each other at their forked inner ends.

,In the die-box J are the upper die U and lower die U. (Seen clearly at the right in Fig. l.) The upper die is operated by a rollerstud u, engaging the cam-groove M in the face of the disk m', said stud being on the guided upright stem of the die, and the lower die U is operated by a face-cam V on the lower face of the cam-disk F, as best seen in Figs. 1 and 4. A roller W, adapted to roll over the facecam V, is carried on the inner arm of a lever W', fulcrumed at w on the frame, the outer end of said lever carrying the lower die. A spring Y tends to draw down the die U and also to keep the roller W pressed up elastically to the cam V. This latter cam is provided with elevations Y and a recessed portion rj in order that as the cam rotates the die U' will be at one point raised a little above the edge of the die-box to deliver the stamped tablet, at another point brought to a level with the surface of the die-box to be brushed, atanother time lowered a little below the top of the box to receive the unstamped tablet, and at another time it descends to the lowest point in the die-box, the position it occupies during the'stamping operation.

From the above description the general operation of the machine will be understood. It need only be said that, as before intimated, the parts described are duplicated at opposite sides of the machine-frame and receive, press, and deliver the cakes of soap independ` ently.

The movements of the various parts will be timed to operate in proper succession or at proper times and to rest at the proper times and for the proper length of time. This is a matter of constructing and setting the cams and is within the knowledge of any skilled mechanic.

The use of the machine on other compressible materials than soap will be obvious.

The invention is not restricted to the exact mechanical construction, as this may be varied to some extent without departing materially from the invention.

Having thus described my invention, I clairn l. In a machine for automatically cutting, feeding and stamping soap, the combination with a feedingguide for the bar of soap, of a reciprocating cutter which cuts the tablets from said bar, reciprocating dies which press or stamp the tablets, and reciprocating grippers which feed the tablets to the dies and remove them from the dies and carry them to the delivery-point, substantially as set forth.

2. In a machine for automatically cutting, feeding and-stamping soap, the combination with a feeding-guide for the bar of soap, a re-A IIO ciprocating cutter which cuts the tablets from said bar, and reciprocating dies for stamping said tablets, of connected sliding grippers for seizing and carrying the soap tablets, one gripper being adapted to seize the bar of soap, advance it to the proper distance, and there, after it is cut off, carry the tablet to the dies, and the other gripper adapted to take the stamped tablet from the dies and carry it to the delivery-point, automatic mechanism for imparting the proper irregular reciprocating movements to the said grippers, and automatic mechanism for opening and closing the jaws of said grippers, substantially as set forth.

3. In a machine for stamping soap and the like, the combination with the soap-feeding guide, the reciprocating cutter, and the stamping mechanism, of the sliding rod for the soap-grippers, means for imparting an endwise to-and-fro movement thereto, the two grippers carried by said rod, and means substantially as described for operating the jaws of said grippers simultaneously.

4;. In a machine for cutting and stamping soap, the combination with the chute in which the bar of soap is fed, means for intermittently feeding forward the said bar, and a cutter which cuts off tablets from the end of said bar, of a reciprocating stop in said chute up to which the bar of soap is fed, said stop being timed to move out of the path of the bar to permit of the latter being fed forward, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination with the sliding bar O, and mechanism for moving same, of the like grippers I and I1, fixed to said bar, each consisting of a supporting-frame, jaws L movable thereon, a lever la, and links coupling said jaws to said lever, a bar 7l, connecting the levers k of the two grippers, and mechanism for operating the bar/L' to open and close the jaws of the grippers, substantially as set forth.

Y 6. In a machine for stamping soap and the like, the combination with the soap-feeding guide, the reciprocating cutter for the bars of soap, and the stamping mechanism, of two grippers having an irregular, reciprocating movement, one of said grippers feeding the tablets of soap to the dies of the stamp and the other removing the stamped tablet from the dies, mechanism which imparts movement to said grippers and mechanism which opens and closes the jaws of said grippers at proper times.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROBERT SAVORY.

Witnesses:

A. C. B. HERDI, ,W. II. BEnsToN. 

